Reason for Reading: I chose this book because I enjoy murder mysteries and crime drama. I have also read some of James Patterson's books before and enjoyed them. What Genre is it? Mary Mary is a crime fiction novel and fits into a mystery/detective genre.The book is a mystery novel because it involves one or more persons solve a crime. Generally in mystery novels the detectives use logic to find the perpetrator of the misdeed. In mystery novels anyone can be a detective and they usually have nothing material to gain from solving the crime. The investigator and the culprit are usually introduced early on in the story and the crime is usually violent like murder, assault, etc. The way that the crime is committed has to be believable it cant be something completely outlandish that doesn’t make sense. Also, the way that the detective solves the case has to logical. He/she can just magically find the culprit through some error in continuity. The one who commits the crime has to be able to commit the crime. The culprit has to have the motive or reasoning for committing the crime. The criminal can’t just randomly decide to go out and commit a robbery or murder. Finally, The writer cannot fool the reader by giving it a twist ending. There can’t be an evil twin introduced later in the story or one big plot twist in which the detective is actually the criminal and the criminal is actually the good guy.
Summary
The story begins with Alex Cross and his family on a vacation in Disneyland in California. His new love interest meets him in California as well. He is disappointed to find out that he has to end his vacation short and go back to work. But when he finds out that a famous actress has been shot outside of her home in Beverly Hills, he hurries back. As he delves deeper into the mystery he is troubled by the fact that the killer seems to be a woman. Shortly after this a Los Angeles Times editor receives and email describing the murder sign by someone named Mary Smith. After this more killings are threatened through emails and they end up happening. Meanwhile a real woman named Mary Smith, a typical working mom. Her story sounds typical to other families; she is always trying to do her best and provide for her family, and loves her children very much. The killings continue and the clues lead the police to Mary but Detective Cross suspects that there is more to the story. Later while Mary is in custody two men are killed going against the established M.O. and after investing a case never solved from 20 years ago and intuitive investigating lead Alex to the real killer.
Characters
Alex Cross- He works as a detective for the FBI and the Washington D.C. police. He has three kids named Janelle, Damon, and Alex, Jr. He works a lot and generally isn’t home much. He is able to take his kids on vacation, which doesn’t happen very often. “For anyone else, maybe a vacation was an ordinary thing. Happened all the time, twice a year sometimes. For the Cross family, it was a major event, a new beginning.” Ch.5. He was married to another woman but she had been kidnapped the year before and been held hostage for a year while she was still pregnant with their third child, Alex, Jr. During the story he is in a custody battle with her over Alex, Jr. and lives by herself with him. He is very good at his job as a detective and has solved numerous cases before and has gained the reputation as “America’s Sherlock Holmes”. He cares for his family even though he may not always be there for him and he is always trying to do his best to love and care for them. Detective Cross is always trying to do his best at everything he does and works very hard to solve the crimes presented to him.
Mary Smith- She is ordinary woman who works at a hotel in Beverly Hills as a maid and has three kids. She is a hard working mother who constantly finds ways to make her kids lives better. “Mary Smith’s Alarm clock went off at 5:30 A.M., but she was already awake. Wide awake, thinking about, of all things, how to make a porcupine costume for her daughter Ashley’s school play.” Ch.4. She moved to California far away from where she lived before. She is living the life she had wanted to live before with her three kids Brendan, Ashley, and Adam. Before living in California she was placed in a mental hospital after drowning her real children 20 years ago. Mary subsequently escaped from the hospital and went to California. After being incarcerated we find out that the whole time she was just imagining that she had her children with her. She was later cleared of the crimes after the detective find out that she was set up by people who had visited her before while she was in the hospital. She genuinely believed that her children were still with but in reality they were just a manifestation of her repressed memories of murdering them.
James Truscott- He works as a tabloid reporter for a magazine and has been reporting full time on Alex’s investigations. He follows him to California and constantly reports on his investigation in to the murder of the famous actress and actors. According to Detective Cross James will stop at nothing to get a good story. “It wasn’t that I disliked him, or objected to his right to write whatever stories he wanted to, but he had already intruded into my life in ways that I felt were inappropriate – like writing daily emails and arriving at crime scenes, and even at our house in D.C. Now, here he was, showing up on our family vacation. Alex sees him as someone who is doing his job but is taking his journalistic responsibility a little to far.
Main Ideas There are many different themes and ideas that are prevalent in this book but the one that is most important is reading in between the lines and getting the full story before rushing into things. Throughout the course of the story the police and Detective Cross uncover many clues and disturbing facts before ultimately arresting the wrong person. They failed to realize that the clues presented to them were only a ruse used to throw them off the trail of the real killer. If they had read deeper into the clues and investigated more thoroughly they would have realize that they’re looking for the wrong person instead of going and arresting Mary Smith. All these things show the importance of reading deeper into everything people say and do and the importance of not taking what everybody says as fact.
Another main idea is the importance of family. In the beginning of the book when James is harassing Detective Cross’s family Alex does his best to shield his family from the invasion of their privacy. Mary Smith even though she drowned her kids years ago continues to care and love them even though they only exist in her mind. She does her best to make a living for them and treats them like any normal mother would. Family is a recurring them throughout the Alex Cross series. Through the series of books Alex is always trying to do his best to protect his family from any violent criminals that might try to harm his family. Symbolism
This picture represents how in the emails sent by Mary Smith she refers to herself as invisible and that she says that she will become famous after killing all these well known people. Mary feels that the people she kills deserve to die because they don’t deserve to be well know, wealthy, or loved by the public for one reason or another. The picture represents her feelings by showing the person who you don’t know and probably wouldn’t be able to pick out of a crowd if seen. She gains this twisted gratification by murdering these people as a way to scream to the world here I am I will no longer continue to be ignored.
Words to live by
Atrocious- terrible. “So did the atrociously dressed elderly couple, who didn’t talk to each other at all, not once in the fifteen minutes before the houselights went down.” CH.1
Grunge- filthy. “Wrinkled, grungy black t-shirt that said NYU FILM SCHOOL with a clapsticks logo on the back.” CH.1
Interminable-never ending. “The irritating morons didn’t shut up once throughout the interminable trailers and ads.” CH.1
Aficionado- someone who is devoted to something. “He began to watch Kill Bill Volume 2 with seven other Tarantino aficionados.” CH. 1
Spate- a large amount of things. “It wasn’t long before she was at the stove, calling out orders and fielding the usual spate of morning-time needs.” CH. 4
Related Works There are many books that come to mind when reading this book. One in particular is another James Patterson novel called Roses are Red. In this book Alex Cross once again has to solve a series of bank robberies committed by one person who uses different groups of people to commit the crimes. Once again Alex is torn between family and work life as his nine-year-old daughter is in the hospital having surgery and his second wife, Christine, is leaving him after being kidnapped and held for almost a year under duress. He tries to balance his different obligations while trying to find some calm in his chaotic life.
Another book that this story relates to this story is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was written by Stieg Larsson. In this book two unlikely people meet and work together to solve a mystery that shocks an entire family. The two investigators have to dodge deadly criminals and save one another from both physical and emotional dangers. They become like family and work together to solve the crime. All of these books have similar qualities that make them interesting reads. The mystery/detective genre is great for reading because it always presents an interesting reading experience and a great story line. This genre is great for reading because it always keeps you on the edge of your seat and allows you to guess what’s going to happen next. These kinds of books are always enjoyable to read and are very hard to put down.
Written by James PattersonJoseph Igoni
Reason for Reading: I chose this book because I enjoy murder mysteries and crime drama. I have also read some of James Patterson's books before and enjoyed them.
What Genre is it?
Mary Mary is a crime fiction novel and fits into a mystery/detective genre.The book is a mystery novel because it involves one or more persons solve a crime. Generally in mystery novels the detectives use logic to find the perpetrator of the misdeed. In mystery novels anyone can be a detective and they usually have nothing material to gain from solving the crime. The investigator and the culprit are usually introduced early on in the story and the crime is usually violent like murder, assault, etc. The way that the crime is committed has to be believable it cant be something completely outlandish that doesn’t make sense. Also, the way that the detective solves the case has to logical. He/she can just magically find the culprit through some error in continuity. The one who commits the crime has to be able to commit the crime. The culprit has to have the motive or reasoning for committing the crime. The criminal can’t just randomly decide to go out and commit a robbery or murder. Finally, The writer cannot fool the reader by giving it a twist ending. There can’t be an evil twin introduced later in the story or one big plot twist in which the detective is actually the criminal and the criminal is actually the good guy.
Summary
The story begins with Alex Cross and his family on a vacation in Disneyland in California. His new love interest meets him in California as well. He is disappointed to find out that he has to end his vacation short and go back to work. But when he finds out that a famous actress has been shot outside of her home in Beverly Hills, he hurries back. As he delves deeper into the mystery he is troubled by the fact that the killer seems to be a woman. Shortly after this a Los Angeles Times editor receives and email describing the murder sign by someone named Mary Smith. After this more killings are threatened through emails and they end up happening. Meanwhile a real woman named Mary Smith, a typical working mom. Her story sounds typical to other families; she is always trying to do her best and provide for her family, and loves her children very much. The killings continue and the clues lead the police to Mary but Detective Cross suspects that there is more to the story. Later while Mary is in custody two men are killed going against the established M.O. and after investing a case never solved from 20 years ago and intuitive investigating lead Alex to the real killer.
Characters
- Alex Cross- He works as a detective for the FBI and the Washington D.C. police. He has three kids named Janelle, Damon, and Alex, Jr. He works a lot and generally isn’t home much. He is able to take his kids on vacation, which doesn’t happen very often. “For anyone else, maybe a vacation was an ordinary thing. Happened all the time, twice a year sometimes. For the Cross family, it was a major event, a new beginning.” Ch.5. He was married to another woman but she had been kidnapped the year before and been held hostage for a year while she was still pregnant with their third child, Alex, Jr. During the story he is in a custody battle with her over Alex, Jr. and lives by herself with him. He is very good at his job as a detective and has solved numerous cases before and has gained the reputation as “America’s Sherlock Holmes”. He cares for his family even though he may not always be there for him and he is always trying to do his best to love and care for them. Detective Cross is always trying to do his best at everything he does and works very hard to solve the crimes presented to him.
- Mary Smith- She is ordinary woman who works at a hotel in Beverly Hills as a maid and has three kids. She is a hard working mother who constantly finds ways to make her kids lives better. “Mary Smith’s Alarm clock went off at 5:30 A.M., but she was already awake. Wide awake, thinking about, of all things, how to make a porcupine costume for her daughter Ashley’s school play.” Ch.4. She moved to California far away from where she lived before. She is living the life she had wanted to live before with her three kids Brendan, Ashley, and Adam. Before living in California she was placed in a mental hospital after drowning her real children 20 years ago. Mary subsequently escaped from the hospital and went to California. After being incarcerated we find out that the whole time she was just imagining that she had her children with her. She was later cleared of the crimes after the detective find out that she was set up by people who had visited her before while she was in the hospital. She genuinely believed that her children were still with but in reality they were just a manifestation of her repressed memories of murdering them.
- James Truscott- He works as a tabloid reporter for a magazine and has been reporting full time on Alex’s investigations. He follows him to California and constantly reports on his investigation in to the murder of the famous actress and actors. According to Detective Cross James will stop at nothing to get a good story. “It wasn’t that I disliked him, or objected to his right to write whatever stories he wanted to, but he had already intruded into my life in ways that I felt were inappropriate – like writing daily emails and arriving at crime scenes, and even at our house in D.C. Now, here he was, showing up on our family vacation. Alex sees him as someone who is doing his job but is taking his journalistic responsibility a little to far.
Main IdeasThere are many different themes and ideas that are prevalent in this book but the one that is most important is reading in between the lines and getting the full story before rushing into things.
Throughout the course of the story the police and Detective Cross uncover many clues and disturbing facts before ultimately arresting the wrong person. They failed to realize that the clues presented to them were only a ruse used to throw them off the trail of the real killer. If they had read deeper into the clues and investigated more thoroughly they would have realize that they’re looking for the wrong person instead of going and arresting Mary Smith. All these things show the importance of reading deeper into everything people say and do and the importance of not taking what everybody says as fact.
Another main idea is the importance of family. In the beginning of the book when James is harassing Detective Cross’s family Alex does his best to shield his family from the invasion of their privacy. Mary Smith even though she drowned her kids years ago continues to care and love them even though they only exist in her mind. She does her best to make a living for them and treats them like any normal mother would. Family is a recurring them throughout the Alex Cross series. Through the series of books Alex is always trying to do his best to protect his family from any violent criminals that might try to harm his family.
Symbolism
This picture represents how in the emails sent by Mary Smith she refers to herself as invisible and that she says that she will become famous after killing all these well known people. Mary feels that the people she kills deserve to die because they don’t deserve to be well know, wealthy, or loved by the public for one reason or another. The picture represents her feelings by showing the person who you don’t know and probably wouldn’t be able to pick out of a crowd if seen. She gains this twisted gratification by murdering these people as a way to scream to the world here I am I will no longer continue to be ignored.
Words to live by
Related Works
There are many books that come to mind when reading this book. One in particular is another James Patterson novel called Roses are Red. In this book Alex Cross once again has to solve a series of bank robberies committed by one person who uses different groups of people to commit the crimes. Once again Alex is torn between family and work life as his nine-year-old daughter is in the hospital having surgery and his second wife, Christine, is leaving him after being kidnapped and held for almost a year under duress. He tries to balance his different obligations while trying to find some calm in his chaotic life.
Another book that this story relates to this story is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was written by Stieg Larsson. In this book two unlikely people meet and work together to solve a mystery that shocks an entire family. The two investigators have to dodge deadly criminals and save one another from both physical and emotional dangers. They become like family and work together to solve the crime.
All of these books have similar qualities that make them interesting reads. The mystery/detective genre is great for reading because it always presents an interesting reading experience and a great story line. This genre is great for reading because it always keeps you on the edge of your seat and allows you to guess what’s going to happen next. These kinds of books are always enjoyable to read and are very hard to put down.
Goodreads Review link
< http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/424434458 >